Sword art Online the unknown empire
by flaming hunter
Summary: When it's all said and done this place is their home now and so they have to defend it at all cost
1. Chapter 1

Aincrad ... No Sword Art Online was a game designed to slow players to interact with the game world but unlike the virtual reality ones that came before, a person could feel the wind on their faces and even taste the food. However, things such as pain, hunger and everyday things like going to the bathroom didn't happen, there was only so much the machine could imitate of the real world.

Things like death and fear of never seedings ones love ones didn't exist in this virtual world at least, not before a madman forced the players into a death game.

The creator of the game rigged every machine sold so that when a players family or someone else took of the virtual reality helmet or the Nerve Gear as it was called, the machine would fry the users brain.

Luckily nearly everyone that was trapped in the madman's plan was either a full grown adult, that needed a way to relax from his everyday troubles or a teen with to much free time on his or her hands.

It helped that the game was sold in two versions, the Sword Art Online version sold in Japan and the Gun Gale Online version sold in America. This was due as a result of two separate game companies coming together to help create a new diverse method of playing.

There was no magic in Sword Art Online only a few trinkets here and there, like the ideal teleportation crystals and healing potions. While in Gun Gale Online, there was no way for a player to acquire infinite ammunition, stuff like maps and locations had to be discovered by the players themselves.

This was done so when the players somehow encountered each other, they could learn from the experience, this way a sword user could aquifer a gun from a gun gale player, but he would be limited to the number of bullets the gun had in it.

Fifty thousand games wore sold and could be used by two people, this feature was only given to the small group who bought the first copy of the game, so there were some kids running around.

We lost half that number because when the warning was given out, the player's families tried to take the helmets off and ended up killing them instead, others tried jumping off the Flying Castle we were all sent into when the imbecile informed us of what he had done.

A few vomited suicide and a lot more of us died trying to clear the levels and fighting the monsters that were now all too real, others were killed by people that had no morals and killed other players just because they thought it was fun. That is until a full-fledged war was launched against them and the few madmen that managed to escape being killed by the revenge-filled players now hide in the outskirts of every town or city in the game.

Hard to believe two years have passed since then, now there are three kinds of players those that have given up trying to complete the game and escape so they simply started their new lives in this virtual world, those that never tried, simply because they were too young too old or didn't have the nerves for it and those that continue to fight our way up hoping to complete this game and go back home.

As time passed we found a way to maintain a constant contact with the gun gale players and we even started a trade sis them with them, those guns of their saved our lived more times than we can count and our healing potions according to them have saved many people on their side.

Now it seemed like life has forced us all into something we weren't ready for again once again.


	2. Chapter 2

**heavy speech**

character speech

 _communication speech_

 ** _machine speech_**

"It all happened so fast one moment we were all just living our lives either fighting the monsters or simply getting by day by day, then everything turned dark, so dark that we couldn't even see our own noses.

Then int happened.

 **Sistem Reboot Complet. World Transfer Complet. Due to the alterations in the laws of physics, Aincrad will be unable to fly for two days... All weaponry, tools, and battle beast, along with all players special skills will be unaffected... Cardinal Sistem is now activated...**

 _"Hollow is anybody there, thus is Stepping Razor, is anybody alive in there?" A voice spoke in my ear._

 _"_ Stepping Razor, what the hell happened?" I answered the gun gale player.

 _"That's what I want to know, over here everything suddenly went dark and when the lights came back on, a report from the system said that the games A.I was online." Stepping Razor answered me._

"The same thing happened over here... The thing is my body feels strange, I don't know how to say it, but I feel somehow more solid... Real. I can't really explain it." I told Stepping Razor.

 _"You and me both man, but hey I have some knees you might be interested in. I can see the castle from where I'm standing." Stepping Razor said before he stopped talking slowing me to process his words._

 _"_ That's impossible, we're in two different games, sure we can crossover but that's it," I answered Stepping Razor _._

 _"...Chech your help screen, go to the message board." Stepping Razor said to me before I did as he told me._

The message board was light up like a Chrismas tree people were desperate for information, some were looking for their old teammates, others were simply wondering what was going on, a whole lot of them simply wanted to leave the castle or go inside it, just to see what was inside.

Those that were fighting, however, were reporting that the monsters activities had changed and weren't even attacking players anymore.

"What the hell I said as I looked at the pictures sent in by the Gun Gale players. There being shown by every picture available, was the prison everyone had been forced to call home Aincrad and its main entrance was wide open.

 _" Everyone on our side is securing the area around us, seemed like we woke up before any of you guys. Don't sake me why but everyone on our end passed out before we got here, wherever here is." Stepping Razor said._

 _"_ What do you mean, by passed out and woke up before you guys?" I asked Stepping Razor.

 _"...Take a deep breath and calm down, we arrived here two days ago, as far as I know. Since like I said I passed out along with everyone else out here, we probably arrived sometime before that. So who knows how long it's really been, we've all tried to contact you guys in there but no one answered until now." Stepping Razor said to me, his voice was hesitant, like if he was worried about how I would react._

I didn't know how to react to what he had just told me, but to be honest, I didn't really care. Maybe it was the fact that I knew I could die at any moment or the fact that I had learned to accept things were out of my control but I just laid there listening to Stepping Razor talk.

 _"You okay man?" Stepping said_

 _"_ Yah" I answered him.

 _"Look I'm sending you the map of the surrounding area, along with some from the locations I've visited and some of the areas other players have sent me...You know this information isn't free, so a maps for maps..." Stepping Razor said, but I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was keeping something from me._

 _"_ What is it, there won't be a trade unless you tell me what your hiding." I told Stepping Razor.

 _"...There are a hell of a lot of new monsters and the ones we know about don't get along with them, we've found entire areas that look like war zones, dead bodies of monsters everywhere. People are bleeding and not the game kind... The girls are having their periods and we can go to the bathroom now."_

 _"Listen I only know what I've heard so far and what I've seen, but the N. are acting like people now... I don't think this is a game anymore, either the technology advanced like crazy while we've been in here or somehow all of this is real..." As Stepping Razor said what he knew his voice carried his feeling of fear and I could tell he wanted to say something else, but the rules were a favor for a favor and information for information._

I sent him my maps and the locations in it, nothing was special about them, every player had what I had, after all, I wasn't a Clearer, so I was never in the front lines. Immediately after, I received a map filled with areas and places I could get guns, armor, ammunition and even food.

 _"... We've found a couple of abandoned villages and some towns that still have some people. Luckily for us the people that live in them were friendly, but there's a look of fear in their eyes. It's like they are warning us not to stay for long. Listen fortify the castle and the area around it, we all might have to hide in it one day." Stepping Rasor said before he sent the images of the villages and towns to me._

I could tell just by looking at the damages done to the houses that there had definitely been a firefight in one of the villages. Being a sword user forced me to learn how swords and other sharp and blunt objects cause damage. It looks like we had arrived in some sort of warzone.

I was about to say something when the message board began to act up like crazy, someone had sent in a video showing necks building walls around the castle and the Gun Gale players setting up defenses. Already the various Guild Leaders were negotiating and deals were being struck.

Perhaps my mind couldn't process everything that was going on, but as a bird flew past me, I realized that for the first time in two years I could see the ground outside of the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

[Speech change Stepping Razor]

I cut off communication, to let the guy digest everything I said. He had things to deal with now and didn't need me to bother him at the moment.

I spat out some blood that had gotten into my mouth, as I looked at the body of the man I had just killed, he looked young perhaps twenty-something, didn't matter he was dead now. His clothing was simple, a knights uniform, digesting he was other a simple grunt for some noble or he was a noble.

Gungale has thought its players one thing is to not bother reading only the surface of things and actually look into everything. A dead body could contain medic in, explosives and even a ripe of tracking device that informed the person's team when and where they died.

As I inspected my victim's body, I noticed several things that were off, the man's clothing only looked simple, sweet actually cleaned the coat and his sword somehow became sharper with every use, then there were the boots, no this only looked simple.

I put my hand to my ear and searched for my team before U began to talk. "Commander. I dealt with a hostile, his equipment seems simple, however, it only looks that way. Based on the style, stitching and even the form that its placed, I can... Sir this clothing is mass produced.

Not only that but I'm sending the information of his weapon to you." I said as I called my team leader.

 _"Stepping Razor, collect the body and deal with any evidence left behind. We have our own situation over here." My team leader said._

"Sir?" I asked.

 _"Check your updates." My team leader said before he continued to speak._

I turned to look at my updates and saw footage of several villagers asking for work, food, water and even asking if they could live inside the walls we were putting up.

 _"It seems our trips to the villages and the towns haven been unnoticed and some of the natives want to either start some form of trade or simply try to start new lives." My team leader said, but there was a tone in his voice, it was the same kind he used when he knew we were going to have to fight whether we liked or not._

 _"Stepping, it seems that the Sword Art users are going to be our main providers for, fruits and vegetables. Our own food supply won't be enough to support both us and the hungry masses...especially when word gets out we have food."_

As my captain spoke I suddenly understood why he wanted me to bring back my victim's body, this had all the makings of a war, if not for food then for resources. I could feel the hairs on my neck begin to stand, alerting me to the danger around me.

"Sir, I'm going to need back up." I said as I drew my rifle, there wasn't any answer, that told me everything I had to know, help was on its way I just had to hold out long enough.


	4. Chapter 4

(Speech change)

As a hunter, he had learned the art of stealth, so he could remain calm, patient for days, either completely still or tracking his prey. He hard hunted a number of creatures that would have devoured entire groups of armed men, with a single shot, but not even he could believe what he was seeing.

A man stood between several knights, his armor stained with blood while the corpses of several men laid at his feet, several chimeras circled the men, in a way that almost seemed hesitant and it was either the creatures pride or senseless hunger but the chimera simply refused to leave.

The air seemed to calm itself, like if had become completely still and only the men's heavy breathing could be heard alongside the chimeras grows as they circled the men.

It would be the sound of rocks breaking underneath the chimeras feet that announced the fight.

All he could do was stare as in a single heartbeat all four chimeras died in an instant, each man held a sword that seemed as if it was made of light, each of chimeras claws flew one side and their bodies fell to the other, each one falling with a single shot right between their eyes.

He had never heard the men's guns fire even once.

"Targets neutralized, bringing back the bodies for examination." One of the men spoke as if he was speaking to someone that wasn't even there.

All he could do was hold his breath and hope the group of men didn't notice him, he watched as each man took one of the chimeras legs and dragged each creature away, they only left behind one of the creatures sever limbs, one of the men dragged the corpses of the dead knights, they were making it seem like some other creature had done the act.

Moments later small birds made of metal, began to fly around in circles and began to erace any footprints the men left behind. It would be an hour before he dared to make a move. Unfortunately, he would have to go home empty-handed the forest was too dangerous at the moment.

As he walked home he noticed several of the metal birds flying in the air, it was like they were circling the are, like if they were keeping an eye on everything. He had left the village and the town in hope of being able to hunt something, so the the townspeople wouldn't starve and the villagers wouldn't have to give up some of their children because they couldn't give what little food they had.

He had failed and now the people would suffer because of it.

As he arrived into town he noticed several carts filled with various meats and vegetables, both the townspeople and the people from the nearby village were gathered, amongst them were a group of men wearing strange sets of armor, they shook hands with both the town's leaders and the village elders before leaving.

As the strangers walked away he noticed several of the metal birds lift themselves up and vanish into the air, as he turned to look at the men as they walked away he noticed a shadow just above his right shoulder, a metal bird flew quietly next to him.

He had never even heard it.


	5. Chapter 5

(Speech change)

I could only look at the information as it came when it started to get repetitive, I switched to the Gun Gale Chat that I used to see what they were doing, it was form of entertainment. A way of seeing the places, I would never visit and at times a way for me to either feel like I was watching a movie or have a chance to say, I'm glad I'm not that guy.

None of that was present now, it was all confusion and scared people, just like inside the castle. From the looks of it, the Gun Gale players didn't have the luxury of having someone that explained what had happened, like Stepping Razer did for me, no they had to figure things out for themselves.

That was both a blessing and a curse, on one side most of the insane machines and monsters were now completely indifferent to the Gun Gale Players, on the other side the game N.P.C's were now acting human, they laughed they cried they ate and as one player found out, they could even have sex.

Information was the way one stayed alive, so he had to look into everything, to his surprise an overwhelming amount of information about the various monsters showed up. Snakes that lived in lava, lizards that could tare a man to leases on their own, but lived in packs, creatures that did underground and bring down entire towns in order to eat them.

The Gun Gale Players had weaponry that could deal with any of that, but the thing was the sheer amount of monsters was in itself insane. Then there was the realization as the days went by that, these were the ones that had sloped thru the cracks as the monsters from Gun Gale Online had in fact long since awoken before the players themselves and had begun to have territorial wars with these Danger Beast as they were now known.

He looked at the development of the new town/ multi-city that the Gun Gale Players were setting up around Aincrad, the natives to Gun Gale recognized the danger and so began to gather around the players, any combat experienced N. were used to train the next generation.

So places like shops, warehouses and so on had to be moved, that was the reason for all of the mechs outside, ammunition factories, armor repair, houses, taverns, brothels and so on were being moved and they were all from different locations.

Yet these were just the ones that didn't have anything they really liked about where they lived others decided to stay where they were, these people other protected mines that contained one precious rare metal or had a good amount of special glass that had to be watched so it didn't leak.

Not only that some of the natives of the new world had gathered there and started their new lives, this made the area outside have its borders, blurry undefined borders, but borders nonetheless.

Now native villages and towns of this new world, that didn't have food of were sure that would soon die made contact with the Gun Gale Players and a ripe of mutual protection was agreed upon.

Food, for food, if someone attacks you we help you, but if someone attacks us you help us, in simple terms, it was just that, but that was the thing natives were gathering rapidly like if word had spread unnaturally fast or if the people themselves called each other and told them about us.

That meant the people had some form of long-distance communication and that suggested magic or highly advanced technology.

As I looked up, I noticed a Gun Gale Player wearing a ripe of power armor shaking hands with a pair of knights. They said how they were happy to finally meet each other in person and the knights began to show the gunmen around the nearest town.

I checked my alerts and the only thing that had changed was that rape was now a capital offense and the person that did it would automatically be sent to the front lines, regardless of their position or level. Nothing had really changed, the rules remained the same, player will not kill player under penalty of being marked for forty-eight hours, no stealing, it was forbidden to fight inside towns or cities.

Other than a few other things everyone could agree on, everyone was free to go to any floor an visit any town or city, the same applied for outside Aincrad in the Gun Gale city.

I drew my sword and looked at my reflection on its silver blade, somehow I could taste the metal in the air, I could feel how heavy the sword is and even now feel the weight of my armor. As I began to walk, I noticed an N.P.C carrying a bag that was too heavy for her, I would try to help, but the A.I doesn't seem to ever let go of what they are carrying, so it's better to ignore her.

I was about to walk away when a gut instinct told me to help the girl with her bag, the girl's eyes widened as I heard her and liked her bad up. She was about to stretch out her hand, I could see the fear in her eyes as I looked at her and as she drew her hand back slowly, I could see her begin to cry.

"It's too heavy for you, I'll cardi it. Next time make two trips or carry less." I said to her, it was pointless, she was a machine, after all, nothing more than a computer construct.

The girl looked at me with wide eyes and slowly stood up and stood beside me, she pointed into tow began to walk, she never said a word even as she guided me. As we walked, I could see the N.P.C's staring at us, some talked to one another, others pointed and some whispered to each other as they saw us.

This was to Human, it seemed that the N.P.V' s on our side may have become real too, that was a scary thought because that meant the reason the monsters weren't attacking us, was the same reason normal people don't attack someone stronger than them.

They knew we could kill them and as long as they didn't attack, we wouldn't kill them. So that meant the monsters could think and if they could think they could plan and make strategies.

As we arrived at the girl's house I handed to her the bag, she lowered her head and with a voice that sounded more like a whisper than anything else she simply said.

"Thank you."

"Don't hurt my sister!" A little boy screamed as he ran towards me and as he crashed into my armor and fell onto the ground crying holding his dead. I smiled at the boy's actions, it was flesh hitting metal, metal was going to win. I used my help screen and removed my armor, leaving only the undersuit.

I stood over the boy, somehow casting a large shadow over him and waited for him to stop crying when he did he looked at me with a terrified expression.

"Stand up," I told him, however, my words sounded more like an order. He hesitated for a moment but did so nonetheless.

"Remember, metal vs flesh, metal wins. Now copy me." I ordered him as I pointed at my shadow, the boy looked at me as I took a basic boxing stance and began to shadow box. I pointed towards my feet and showed him the basic foot stance before pointing to him to try and imitate me.

He tried his best but continued to fail, either his guard was weak, his footing was way of or he simply didn't want to do it. At the end of it all, the boy was covered in sweat, I patted his head and I was about to leave when I saw that several men had gathered, not only that several boys and young men were with them.

As I turned to look at the boy, I could see an older woman inspecting him, while the girl I had helped earlier was holding her chest with a worried expression. The boy stood back up as I turned to look at the older woman beside him and he said in a tired voice.

"Don't hurt my sister."

Before he walked up to me and began to use the same moves I had just spent the day teaching him, not a single punch landed except until I stood still and let him hit me. The boy needed some positive motivation so I gave him some.

I patted his head and lifted up a rock in front of him. "Don't pick a fight you can't win," I said as I crushed the rock in front of him with my bare hands. After that I left, there was no reason for me to stay, the boy helped me keep things out of mind and I got to relax a bit, while he got some free training out of it.

Either way tonight I was going to sleep underneath a tree and tomorrow I'd deal with everything that was going on. So as I walked out of town and used my help screen and put my armor back on, I noticed just how quiet the night had become. So as I found the biggest tree outside of town and laid down I noticed a pair of glowing green eyes.

They were small and that meant an infant, so it was no threat to me, so I simply laid down and got some sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up to the sound of birds singing and an unknown weight on my chest, as I looked down at my chest to see what it was I noticed a red body curled into a circle, it looked like a red lizard a weak creature, any player above fifteen could take multiple hits from the thing and not worry about it.

Still, the damn thing was on my chest, so I shoved it off and stood up, the creature gave off a light cry of surprise and I felt it jump before it ran off.

I could see the thing run up the tree I had used as my shelter for the night, the lizard's golden yellow eyes stared straight at me from the high ground of the top of the tree.

It didn't matter, the creature was weak so even if it glared at me or even if it attacked me, it was pointless.

Still, it was early and I was hungry, life here was different than the one I had in Earth, here I could live in the forest, live in a town or be a farmer and no one could force me to do anything I hated. This is the reason I live the way I do.

I prefer to sleep underneath the stars and feel the wind on my skin, all the while being able to just go into town and get a plate of hot pancakes. Hell, most of my food comes from things I hunted, things like coffee, special blades made by blacksmiths, as for my guns that was what the trade with the Gun Gale players were for.

I began to walk into town and as I looked for an inn, a tavern or some sort of restaurant that I could get a hot meal, towns usually had a specialist that made food that just makes your head spin with just how good it was.

As I walked thru the town I noticed a sign that had a beer mug and a cow on it, as I pushed the door in and walked inside a man's voice greeted me.

"We're not open yet, come back in an hour."

"All I want is a cup of coffee." I answered the man.

"Sorry sir but we're running behind skedule today, so if your willing to wait I could have your coffee ready." The man answered.

As I looked at him, I noticed his smile was forced.

"Did something happen?" I asked him.

The man whipped his forehead and looked at the door "There's been a lot of attacks her here, I don't know what's been going on but the monsters are acting strangely. Some get unnaturally attached to people, others are just plain mean."

I looked at the man and noticed that there was something he wasn't saying or better yet he was too scared to say it openly.

It wasn't my problem, so I pulled out a chair and waited for the food to be ready, either way, all I wanted was a cup of coffee. The man noticed that I had lost interest in the conversation and decided to go into the kitchen, soon the smell of eggs, sausages, taken and more began to fill the tavern.

A hiss near my leg made me look down and I notice that the red lizard was laying right next to my feet, I never noticed the thing following me, hell I didn't even notice it when I came into the tavern.

Soon the man returned with a cup of coffee. "The food will be ready in a moment, will you like to get a meal." The man asked me.

"Sure" I answers him, soon I had a plate filled is bacon, sausage and eggs, as I ate I noticed that the lizard looking at me as I ate, so I gave the thing of my four sausages, the animal immediately threw itself at the food and devoured it in an instant.

I opened my help screen and immediately noticed that there were dozens of red lights littering the map, I placed two silvers on the table and I walked out into the field. Villages and towns are usually protected by makeshift walls, either made by sticks covered in sharpened points made of wood or rocks.

Unfortunately, these walls left little to no help and the only defenders the towns and villages had were either the people themselves, whatever players were around and if they were lucky the nearby kingdoms would send in knights to protect them.

As I left the town and reached the area where the largest concentration of monsters was all I could do was watch. "Wow" I said, instinctively I began to send the video to the messaging board and sat down to watch.

The creatures were dangerously close to the town but they seemed to ignore and the nearby farmland. It was a herd of buffalo, deer and elks. Already predators were starting to move in, some dragons, wolves and so on, luckily nothing was headed closer to the town.

There was no doubt in my mind that I could deal with the animals but, the sheer number alone would ensure that they did a lot of damage before I could deal with them all.

Then the shaping sound of a gunshot far into the distance alerted me, that someone was impatient and because of their stupidity the animals began to turn around and run, unfortunately, one gunshot was followed by another and another, until the surrounding area became filled with the unnatural sounds of machine, shotgun and gatling gun fire.

My help screen began to sound, for every silver they received I would get five copper, for every gold coin I would get six silver, it could be said that I had scouted out the area for them, so I deserved my cut, but as I stood there watching the green field be painted red, with the blood of the animals I couldn't help but feel, empty.

This wasn't right, but if the animals stayed any longer they would have continued to attract predators, until something truly dangerous showed up, my inability to act would have caused the loss of far more lives than if I had just started killing the animals.


End file.
